Wednesday, May 9, 2018

A loaf of bread on wheels.

UPS revealed it's working with vehicle manufacturer Arrival on a pilot fleet of 35 lightweight electric trucks that look far more futuristic than the standard boxy vehicles. UPS says the trucks have a longer range than other delivery vehicles, reaching around 150 miles on a single charge. As with all electric vehicles, they have zero emissions ( Ed: not really, the electricity is usually generated in ways that definitely create "emissions - it doesn't just magically appear out of the wall socket, although people who think magically sometimes believe it does).

The trucks, which UPS will test in Paris and London, have what the company describes as a "highly advanced vehicle display," along with additional safety features. Those include a wrap-around windshield that give the driver a wider field of view (handy to spot any cyclists zipping by) and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, which aim to lower driver fatigue.

UPS and Arrival have worked together on electric trucks since 2016, and this initial fleet should be on the roads before the end of the year. These trucks will add to UPS's armada of more than 300 electric vehicles and almost 700 hybrid vehicles across the US and Europe.

See, that is the perfect application for an electric vehicle. Shorter range (bet it never gets to that "150 miles"....but 40-60 miles in a day, with low speeds, and lots of start and stop (Bet that they have regenerative braking too) traffic....Plus the batteries provide ballast to keep the center of gravity low for stability.

And if the needed range is too far, you can either charge it on breaks or simply re-do the routes to accommodate the needed shorter ranges.

THis sort of application is a far cry form everyone's electric car though.

How can you possibly say emissions are produced when generating electrical power?? Everybody knows that's not true! Things are different today, we don't have to hunt and kill animals anymore either. We just go to the grocery store and buy our meat like everybody else. :)

I work for the "other guys". We had plastic electric vans that just sat in the parking lot for 2 years and were removed this year. Just flat didn't work. I remember when they were purchased, with the obligatory hooplah. It is just as you said, feel good, pc, waste of resources so we can say, "We love the ball o' dirt more than you do!!!"

fuel cell power supply weighs a lot less than the battery pack this thing uses. and like a battery it only supplies power on demand. FCs emit heat, water vapor. it does not combust fuels. but yeah, batteries is somewhat cheaper. think they have an apu for when the batteries run low on power or do they call a diesel powered tow truck?